The overwhelming sense of negativity is engulfing everything around Chelsea at the current moment.
Two defeats in a row, no league win in four and seeing a bitter rival celebrate in your backyard will never brighten the mood. Still, even before a ball was kicked on Sunday, you were hard-pressed to find many Chelsea minds that were optimistic ahead of Sunday's clash with Arsenal.
Although the scoreline was close, the game did not feel on a knife edge. Arsenal looked the more confident, balanced and dynamic team, with Chelsea attempting to hold them at arm's length. The xG of 0.26 at full-time is the lowest since Graham Potter has taken charge, and it reflected how little optimism could be taken from a miserable day.
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The torrential rain on the walk out of Stamford Bridge only heightened the grim reality of a 13-point gap to Arsenal and a campaign that is looking like an increasingly difficult one to maintain Champions League football.
Potter's honeymoon period arguably only lasted a couple of weeks, with the wins over AC Milan and Wolves showing signs of improvement, but the recent dip in form has brought everyone back down to earth.
What has soured the mood other than defeats to Leeds, Southampton, and Brighton is the failure to win any of the three home games against fellow top-six sides. The performance against Spurs was impressive, undermined by woeful officiating but sparked a trend of Chelsea's poor defending inside their own six-yard box at crucial points.
Harry Kane's 96th-minute equaliser came from an Ivan Perisic corner on the same side Bukayo Saka curled in the ball for Arsenal's winner on Sunday. On that occasion, Spurs players were free inside the box to win the ball, whilst against the other North London side, Saka's delivery bizarrely squirmed through multiple Chelsea bodies before reaching Gabriel Magalhaes.
You could also add Casemiro's late leveller for Manchester United to this list coming at the same end and further proof of Chelsea's lack of focus in vital moments.
But do not let that error cloud the wider symbolism of Sunday's events. This felt like a telling afternoon for Chelsea, one where a club they had previously enjoyed swatting aside with consistency looked several steps ahead, arguably not even hitting their peak but still coming out deserved winners.
You will hear many retorts about where Chelsea currently are, and most of them are shallow and lean on overused buzzwords like 'standards' that don't really mean anything. The standards of the past five years have been pretty consistent: a slog for Champions League qualification, some horrendous dips in form and ending miles away from the eventual Premier League winners.
Potter's team offered little to showcase improvement or even signs of competing with the league leaders. It felt like a performance lacking inspiration, all too familiar over the past five years. It lacked the intangibles that had come to define this fixture in previous eras, with Chelsea teams outmuscling and outsmarting Arsene Wenger's naive approach.
As a hollow Chelsea performance provided little sign of response as the away end bellowed out chants of joy, you were cast back to the days when Eden Hazard would provide some magic, or Didier Drogba could terrify defenders. There was absolutely none of that here, and do not let this defeat fool you into thinking this is abnormal. Arsenal have now won three times in a row at Chelsea in the league.
On a broader scale, the reality of this job is becoming clearer for Potter, who is now grasping not only the jump in expectation but the lack of patience likely already showing signs of breaking. The boos at full-time and the general pessimism before the game are making this season a highly unenjoyable spectacle. The upcoming break from club football will be a much-needed antidote.
Potter has been unlucky to lose huge players to injury, some who would tangibly make a difference, whilst also suffering from an unbalanced squad that is still short in central midfield and lacking consistent end product in the final third.
This was never going to be a quick fix, but it is hard to feel from the stands there is much appetite for that.
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